Quade Cooper has beaten a pair of convicted French spies and a maligned marsupial to top a list of New Zealand "public enemies" named today.
The Kiwi-born Australian five-eighth's mug made the front page of the New Zealand Herald under the headline "Quade, Public enemy No 1", before the full list was revealed inside.
Second was the common possum, accompanied by the description: "An Aussie pest that feels at home here. Much like Cooper."
Alain Mafart and Dominique Prieur, the French spies convicted over the bombing of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior ship in 1984, came in third.
Fourth was controversial British rugby writer Stephen Jones, who drew the ire of New Zealanders with a Sunday Times column in which he argued the "ridiculous" haka had no place in international rugby.
The Chappell brothers - Greg, Ian and Trevor - took fifth spot. The Kiwis are still smarting from the siblings' role in Australia's dominance of international cricket during the 1970s.
But the most surprising inclusion in the list of public enemies was Graham Henry.
The All Blacks coach was given "pending" status - to be decided post-tournament.
A large "Choke-o-meter" made Henry's position even clearer; he is currently sitting somewhere between "cough, cough" and "getting tense".
Some surprise selections in the team to meet Tonga tomorrow night have done nothing to calm New Zealanders's nerves.
"In the overall selection what we are trying to do is to play a nucleus of players pretty often," Henry is quoted as saying.
NZ Herald translation: "After nearly a decade in charge of the All Blacks, I still have no idea who's in the 1st XV".
Looks like Australians aren't the only ones with a healthy disrespect for authority.
